"The central doctrine of Christianity, then, is not that God is a bastard. It is, in the words of the late Dominican theologian Herbert McCabe, that if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you."--Terry Eagleton

"It is impossible for me to say in my book one word about all that music has meant in my life. How then can I hope to be understood?--Ludwig Wittgenstein

“The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is justice."--Bryan Stevenson

Monday, March 05, 2018

Too complicated

[Mueller] is looking at the Trump campaign and the Trump presidency* as one massive three-year money-suck, a fundraising mechanism to enrich its inside players and to monetize the political system, and then the presidency, for every last dollar, riyal, or ruble that can be squeezed out of both of those institutions.

In recent weeks, the Trump Organization has ordered the manufacture of new tee markers for golf courses that are emblazoned with the seal of the President of the United States. Under federal law, the seal’s use is permitted only for official government business. Misuse can be a crime.

No, it's not an anonymous donation from a fan, though no doubt Eric and Don-don will disavow any knowledge of it, and Ivanka will think any questions are inappropriate:

An order form for the tee markers reviewed by ProPublica and WNYC says the customer was “Trump International.” The Facebook page for Eagle Sign and Design shows a photo of the markers in an album with the caption “Trump International Golf Course.”

And yes, this like complaining about Trump's proposed steel tariff while ignoring (seemingly!) all the other terrible things he's done, or complaining about Ben Carson's dining room furniture rather than the proposed cuts to the HUD budget. Still, when you find it to hard to follow the money, just follow the sleazy grift. It puts everything in perspective.